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Famous People of Mexican History

Montezuma I was another great Aztec leader. He ruled from 1440 to 1468. Because he established the structure of the Aztec empire, he is considered the greatest of the Aztec rulers. During his reign, the city of Tenochtitlán was made even more beautiful and comfortable for its citizens, and his empire grew in size and wealth. Montezuma I improved the city by having an aqueduct built, which brought fresh water from the nearby mountains. He was responsible for creating a botanical garden with plants from all over his empire. He also enlarged the great pyramid in the center of the city by adding two temples at the top, one to Tlaloc, the rain god, and one to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and the sun. Montezuma I was able to pay for these improvements by sending out his warriors and

TWO IMPORTANT GODS OF THE TOLTECS AND AZTECS:

Quetzalcoatl was the god of wind, light, and the morning star (Venus). He was also the god of knowledge and the founder of agriculture. Represented as a feathered serpent, he was a kind god, giving humans all the good aspects of civilization, including science, the calendar, and corn. Quetzalcoatl was worshipped by Mexican cultures more ancient than the Aztecs, including the Toltecs and the Mayas. He was considered to be the founder of the Toltec civilization. Sometimes Quetzalcoatl was depicted as a white man with a black beard. That’s one of the reasons why Montezuma II believed that Cortés might have been Quetzalcoatl returning from the east. The Aztecs believed the most powerful god was Huitzilopoctli , who was the god of the sun and war. In their belief system, Huitzilopoctli struggled with the forces of night to keep humans alive in the on-going battle between night and day. He needed the blood of human sacrifice to give him strength to fight his battle against the forces of night. He was a very important god to the Aztecs, because they believed that it was Huitzilopoctli who showed them where to build the city of Tenochtitlán.

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